What is the best medical insurance in the USA for nationwide + international coverage?
Maybe the best plan in the USA is international health insurance, in order to have nationwide coverage + international coverage
A paradox of living in the USA is that you can pay an internationally unprecedented $10,000 or more to for “full medical insurance coverage” and yet 1) still have to pay $5,000 or more as out-of-pocket deductible, 2) have no coverage for dental or vision, and 3) have zero coverage simply because you travel to a different state within the same country. Travel out of the country and need medical coverage?—you’re pretty much on your own, paying out of pocket again.
For contrast, my private Spain medical insurance (with agrupacio.es), which was atop the free public medical insurance (ie, I had double coverage), covered all medical, dental and vision and cost me about $800 per year and of course was valid throughout the entire country, and all of Europe for that matter. My European medical insurance also covered me in the US for up to 3 months at a time. When I had to have surgery in Europe, my out-of-pocket cash cost was $1,500 with all follow-up included while the same surgery in the USA had a cash cost of $25,000 up to $35,000 with none of the follow-up included.
Regular American medical insurance is brutally expensive and yet filled with loopholes so that the insurers pay as little as possible while charging a full salary for minimal actual benefit to the client.
Obviously, medical insurance is big business for big profit and so they can easily afford to buy politicians to write favorable laws and “deregulations” to favor max profit.
“The 1980s divergence in health costs, some readers and experts observed, coincided with a broad push toward deregulation.” New York Times June 4, 2018
I have a health share. I have had it for 8 years and I have never actually used or ever met my deductible. I do have coverage across the USA. It does not cover dental etc. I just could not justify having health insurance when I would never use it.
The only thing with the health share is I have to ask for the cash price when going to a medical provider. Which, I have learned is way cheaper than the insurance route! There is a blue book of procedures that is supposed to help out in comparison shopping.
It does cover 12 chiropractor visits (once you have met your deductible)and naturopathic doctors.
I did come across an article written about the health share indicating it had fraudulent activity and denying people proper coverage in times of need. I am thinking it is still better than health insurance. Coming from another country with universal health care, and now living in the US, I am still trying to figure out why Americans think health care is better than Universal health care. I feel we are all being taken for an expensive ride with nothing to show for it but debt.
Until Obamacare, I had “cadillac” insurance from my employer-- meaning it covered literally everything but facelifts and tummy tucks. Things changed drastically since 2013 for private insurance and Medicare recipients. Now we have very expensive insurance that doesn’t cover well, and charges are astronomical here.
I believe you are correct tho, in saying there was an initial uptick in cost, and downturn in coverage in the late 80s.